Thank you for reaching out to TubeBuddy. One of the first tools that you are going to come across when you begin using TubeBuddy is going to be the Best Practice Report. Whether this be via the Mobile App or the Videolytics on your video watch page this reflects several key things that YouTube looks at which have the potential to make an impact on the visibility of your video in Search and Discovery. In this article we will take a look at each to ensure you are maximizing your potential and giving your video it's best opportunity to excel.
High-Res Thumbnail
Though you can simply choose a frame from your video to use as the thumbnail or even upload a lower quality thumbnail one of the most critical elements of a successful video is that eye-catching thumbnail. As the saying goes, if they don't click it they don't see it. It is our best-practice to use a thumbnail that is bright and compelling; you want it to catch people's attention and the best way to do that is first to ensure that you are uploading a thumbnail that is 1280X720 pixel aspect ration.
Title Contains Tags and Description Contains Tags
These two go hand in hand. In order for YouTube to share our your work they need to know what your video is about so that they can put it in front of the people looking for exactly the content that you made. One of the ways that we do this is by using keywords and keyword phrases. These are things that people type into search when looking for a video. So, if someone is looking for an amazing fishing video they would likely type something along the lines of 'how to catch big fish' or 'what is the biggest fish ever caught.' If you include these types of keyword phrases in the title and the first 200 characters of the description of your video it is going to make it a lot easier for YouTube to put your video in front of these people doing those searches.
Title Length
YouTube allows for 100 characters to be shown in the title of a video. That doesn't mean you necessarily want to use all 100 characters though. YouTube will actually abridge the title of your video when showing it to users while they scroll through TV, mobile devices and computers. You don't necessarily want to keep it too short though. Ideally you want for your title to be between around 60-70 characters.
Tags Length
With several billion people now watching videos on YouTube it is pretty easy for your work to get lost in a sea of videos. But as mentioned before you can target a specific audience by using keyword phrases. The key work here (see what I did there?) is that these are phrases and not simply keywords. Gone are the days when you could pack your video tags with single words like 'lawnmower,' 'car,' or 'kitty.' The market for videos with these tags is simply far too saturated. Instead it is important to use longer keyword phrases. By narrowing down your search from a far more general term like 'lawnmower' to something that is specific to a more focused audience like 'how to fix my lawnmower in 2021' you are cutting through the cloud of endless videos and finding that audience which is in need of exactly what you offer.
Add Captions / Add Cards / Add Endscreens
There are several features provided by YouTube which allow you to increase the amount of views created by a viewer who is watching your content. Cards and End Screens are just that; an opportunity to take a viewer from your video to another. This turns one view into two and is a very powerful tool. Of course adding and editing captions not only allows viewers to watch your content silently it also allows you to translate your captions into different languages, allowing viewers from different countries to be able to understand and enjoy your video. All of these features are found in your Video Details page.
Add to Playlist(s)
Another great tool for turning one view into multiple views is the playlist. Located above the Cards, End Screen and Subtitles options in the Video Details page, playlists allow a viewer to watch several videos in a row. Rather than making a single video on a single topic it allows you to cover several similar topics each with their own individual SEO discovery, while still putting them together for the viewer to 'binge' all of these topics at once.
Get a Like on Facebook
This is as simple as it sounds. YouTube tracks how much your video shared by viewers and they want to see how well your social media posts are received. With Facebook being the biggest Social Media platform it stands to reason that they want to see if your video has been shared out there... do so and get a single like on a post which shares your video and you will check this off the list.